GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Bouncing in and out of prison since 1999, Frank Cisneros has had little sustained time to connect with and guide his growing twin children who are now 15.

If federal authorities have their way, Cisneros, a reputed leader in the Holland Latin Kings street gang and alleged large-scale cocaine dealer, will be out of their lives again in the near future.

Cisneros, 38, is among 31 suspected gang members recently indicted for multiple alleged crimes including racketeering and narcotics offenses.

The accusations come as a surprise to his mother and seem to reveal a hidden part of the life of a suspect who apparently tried to turn the corner in his life after leaving prison and state oversight in February 2012.

Cisneros, in a 1999 interview with The Press, disavowed the gang of which he once was a key part. His mother, Lionirez Cisneros, said her son recently begun volunteering at the Lakeshore Latino Center, trying to turn kids away from the streets because "he doesn't want kids to end up the way he had it."

"He's a son. He's a dad. He's in school," she said Thursday, Feb. 14.

But local, state and federal investigators say Cisneros never strayed far from the gang or street-level drug deals.

Authorities, in the indictment, allege Cisneros sold cocaine to a customer on North Park Drive in Holland as early as April 19, 2012, about a month after he was discharged from state corrections supervision. Other cocaine sales were made by Cisneros in May and June in Holland, authorities allege.

He is charged with racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.

Cisneros' mother said it's difficult for someone released from prison to find a job. She didn't live with her adult son and didn't know what he was up to each day. She hopes the accusations are not true and said it's hard to move beyond a criminal record that includes drug dealing, fleeing police and multiple convictions for either assaulting officers or resisting arrest.

"It never goes away," Lionirez Cisneros said.

She and other members of the family were present in U.S. District Court on Thursday, Feb. 14, as Cisneros appeared briefly before Magistrate Judge Ellen Carmody. He remains held pending further court hearings.

Carmody listened to testimony against two others named in the indictment and heard unnerving developments in the case since a wave of gang member arrests.

Geoff Yandl, a special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said gang graffiti with the letters "HPDK," which authorities think is an acronym for "Holland Police Department Killer," has recently shown up around the ctiy.

Holland police Captain Jack Dykstra said the department is taking the threats seriously.

Desidario Amaro, one of the highest-ranked Latin Kings, has already pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge and agreed to testify against others named in the indictment.

Amaro worked with Latin Kings in Chicago Heights and acted as a local regional leader, authorities say.